The "Small City Warrior" in the trillion-dollar bio-manufacturing track

Xinhua News Agency Hohhot, April 3 (Reporter Wurihan) When consumers buy a bottle of heart health capsules, or pick up a box of anti-aging oral liquid, at pharmacies overseas, the key ingredients inside may come from a small county in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia—Tuoketuo County.

Against the backdrop of the accelerated reshaping of global industrial chains, this small city on the banks of the Yellow River has quietly stepped onto the wind of bio-manufacturing. At present, China’s biomanufacturing industry has a total scale of 1.1 trillion yuan, and the output of bio-fermentation products accounts for more than 70% of the world. On this trillion-yuan track, Tuoketuo County is running at its own pace of acceleration.

A production workshop at a biomanufacturing enterprise in Tuoketuo County, Inner Mongolia. Photo by Xinhua News Agency (Kang Wenkui)

According to the introduction, Tuoketuo County currently has 30 upstream and downstream biomanufacturing enterprises. Their products cover more than 30 types, including human medicines, vaccines, and health products. The production capacity of 6 products, such as chlortetracycline, coenzyme Q10, and astaxanthin, ranks among the world’s best.

Behind these eye-catching figures lie not only the “cost accounts” calculated by enterprises, but also the determination of this small western county to develop new productive forces in light of local conditions. The appeal of Tuoketuo County’s biomanufacturing industry comes from a set of carefully designed “factor combination punches.”

A corn storage yard of Inner Mongolia Rongcheng Corn Development Co., Ltd. Photo by Xinhua News Agency (Kang Wenkui)

First is the endowment of the “Golden Corn Belt.” The terrain here is flat and sunlight is abundant. The corn produced has a high sugar content—an “ideal staple” for the bio-fermentation industry. Biomanufacturing enterprises in Tuoketuo County must process 1 million tons of corn every year.

At the entrance of a corn development company in Tuoketuo Economic Development Zone, trucks loaded with corn queue up to wait for unloading. Inside the plant, large fermentation tanks run nonstop day and night. This enterprise, located in the upstream of the biomanufacturing industrial chain, turns more than 700 tons of corn into corn starch, liquid glucose, and other products every day, supplying nearby biomanufacturing enterprises continuously.

An even more critical move in the “factor combination punches” is low-priced energy costs. Electricity, steam, and compressed air are major cost items for the biomanufacturing industry. Among them, the key project of “sending electricity from the west to the east”—Datang Tuoketuo Power Plant—provides support for the county’s energy advantage. Here, the price of steam is reduced to 120 yuan per ton, and the electricity cost drops to below 0.4 yuan per kWh. The “Air Island” project under construction will further reduce production costs after it begins operation next year.

Sample sheets of enzyme preparation products in the showroom of Inner Mongolia YiduoLi Biotechnology Co., Ltd. Photo by Xinhua News Agency (Kang Wenkui)

A company in the development zone that produces organic acids and enzyme preparations just started production this year, and immediately launched an expansion capacity project. The person in charge of the company, Dong Rongsheng, worked out the numbers: “Compared with factories elsewhere, electricity here is 0.3 yuan cheaper per kWh, and steam is 180 yuan cheaper per ton. Once we have compressed air supplied in a unified way afterward, our costs can come down further.”

To build the best investment destination for the biomanufacturing industry, Tuoketuo County keeps improving supporting facilities and services. In the development zone, a company that produces small-batch amino acids is under hot construction. The person in charge, Lei Zhihua, is very satisfied with the project progress. “We started construction in June last year, and can start operation in June this year—half a year faster than the average speed,” he said. “The local government leveled the land for construction in advance, and all relevant procedures were completed within 3 months, which greatly accelerated progress.”

From “one grain of corn” to “one capsule,” Tuoketuo County, like a “little city cavalry” on the biomanufacturing track, is moving forward at a faster pace.